Itinerary

Day 1: Asprokavos Day 2: Santa Barbara Day 3: Paramonas Day 4: Benitses Day 5: Pelekas Day 6: Agios Georgios Day 7: Rekini Day 8: Departure

Overview for Corfu Trail Highlights

Corfu, the greenest Ionian island, has the iconic long-distance Corfu Trail leading from the southern tip of the island to its northernmost point. On this classic eight-day moderate itinerary you will start at the very beginning of the trail, and walk its best and most picturesque sections.

Highlights

Arkoudilas Beach

Lefkimmi

Santa Barbara/ Marathia Beach

Issos Dunes and Lake

West coast at Paramonas

Strongili village

Stavros View Point

Benitses

Agios Georgios

Itinerary for Corfu Trail Highlights

Day 1: Arrival. Asprokavos

Arrive at Corfu Airport and enjoy our complimentary transfer to your hotel at Asprokavos (22 km / 30 minutes). Meet our representative who will brief you on the walks and give you the maps and the documentation needed for your trip. If arriving in the morning, afternoon optional loop walk Asprokavos-Spartera-Asprokavos. The shortest walk of the Corfu trail leads you to the southernmost tip of Corfu, where you will find the ruins of a monastery. You will continue through a forest to reach the sandy beach of Arkoudilas, where you will walk by the southern shore of the island to the northern end of the beach from where you walk up to the village of Spartera and back along the road to Asprokavos.

Day 2: Asprokavos to Santa Barbara

Crossing the island to the East through olive groves and fields you reach Lefkimmi. Here, your path takes you through the old neighbourhoods and historic city centre of the town with its many churches. Leaving Lefkimmi you will descend into the green valley of the Gardeno River. The last section of today´s walk leads you up again, so you will have splendid views of both the east and west coast of the island, before you descend to the west coast to reach the beach at Santa Barbara.

Day 3: Santa Barbara to Paramonas

Today´s walk leads you along the west coast of Corfu, up through sand dunes and along the shore of Corfu´s biggest saltwater lagoon, Korission. Later you will leave the coastline and continue your walk through deserted ancient olive groves, until descending to the small fishing village of Paramonas.

Accommodation: Varangouli Apartments

Walking for the day: 20 km, 6 hours, 150 m ascent

Day 4: Paramonas to Benitses

Breakfast at Sunset tavern on the beach of Paramonas. As soon as you leave Paramonas you will walk up on paths through olive groves. Once you reach the top, the views over the coastline are amazing. On the descent you pass through small villages (Ano Pavliana, Kato Pavliana, and Vouniatades) to continue your walk through a heathland valley. After the village of Strongili your way climbs again to reach today´s highest point at Dafnata, from where you have beautiful views. Afterwards, you descend on the road to Coyevinas from where a forest trail takes you down to the coast at Benitses, where you will find many options to have a delicious goodbye dinner.

Day 5: Agii Deka (Stavros) to Pelekas

Short transfer to Agii Deka Mountain. The second highest peak of Corfu is on the program today, Agi Deka Mountain. Narrow and old footpaths will lead you through forests and an impressive landscape of huge limestone rocks. After the village of Ano Garouna you will climb up steeply to the summit of Agi Deka, where you have great views towards the south. You descend through a forest to the picturesque village of Agi Deka. After this descent, it is almost level walking to another picturesque village, Sinarades, from where you continue through the olive groves to Pelekas, located on a hilltop.

Day 6: Giannades to Agios Georgios

A steep and rocky footpath brings you towards the old village of Lakones. Views over the west coast and Paleokastritsa are stunning. You walk on the road through Lakones and soon gain a view of Angelokastro, a Byzantine castle which served to protect the North of the island from pirate attacks. Coming out of an olive grove, you can optionally walk the extra 1 km (one way) to Angelokastro for a worthwhile visit (calculate at least one extra hour). The next picturesque village you come through is Krini, and then you descend on trails with breath-taking views to the beach at Agios Georgios.

Day 7: Agios Georgios to Rekini

From the beach of Agios Georgios, you start out climbing steeply through olive groves to the traditional villages of Prinilas and Paghi. You then descend through a fertile valley towards the cluster of villages up on the other side: Aspiotades, Manatades, Agios Athanasios and Agros. Optionally, you can visit the Monastery of Jesus Christ Pantokrator, open every day except Monday, from 8 AM till 1 PM and from 4 PM till sunset. Then you walk through a valley and olive groves to reach the road junction at Rekini. Take the local bus (Euro 2 per person) or taxi (Euro 20 per car) (not included) to Roda.

Day 8: Departure or Onward Travel

Hotels for Corfu Trail Highlights

Accommodation is in hand-picked studio apartments or small family operated hotels. Some places are quite simple, but clean and all have private en-suite rooms.

*Hotels are subject to availability. In case a particular hotel is fully booked for your desired dates we will replace it with a hotel of equal value and quality level. We will give to you exact accommodation details upon booking confirmation.

Travel for Corfu Trail Highlights

Please note that only one airport transfer is included, though we can arrange additional transfers. It is advisable therefore that all party members arrive on the same flight or at least at a similar time.

Flight information can change rapidly and not all flights run daily. Please do check directly with the airlines’ websites or Skyscanner before finalising any booking with us. Pleasedo not book your flights before we have confirmed your booking.

Transfers to/from Airports

Complimentary transfers from/to Corfu Airport are included.

Private Transfers

You have all private transfers arranged for you according to itinerary, apart from the bus or taxi transfer on Day 7.

Baggage Transfers

Luggage transfer is included as per itinerary and we will arrange it from your current hotel to your next hotel. After check out, you will leave baggage at the hotel reception and you can start hiking. When you arrive at your next hotel, your baggage will be at the hotel reception.

Country Info and Travel Advise

Language: Greek. In big cities many people speak English, but in remote areas this might not be the case. However most of the hotel staff where we stay speak English and are ready to help you. Road signs/markers are normally in both Greek and Latin alphabet – and you can always call our 24/7 help line if there are any problems.

Electric supply and plugs: 220V, 50Hz, two pin round plugs.

Currency: Euro (€). We strongly recommend taking adequate cash for your daily requirements. Banks and ATMs are not available outside of cities but credit/debit card payments are accepted in most places.

Cost of living: in Greece it is cheaper than in the UK. Some sample prices follow:

Trip Info for Corfu Trail Highlights

Difficulty Grade: Moderate

Route Navigation

Terrain is varying from steep rocky footpaths to cobbled paths and asphalted roads. Routes are well signposted.

We strongly advise you to follow only marked trails and never try to shorten the path through the unknown and unmarked terrain. We will provide you with detailed road notes and maps and you can call our 24/7 local assistance phone number anytime. More detailed info on route navigation will be included in your holiday information pack.

When to Go

This trip is available between 1 May and 24 June and between 1 September and 24 October. July and August are too hot for walking, while most hotels along the trail are closed in early spring and late autumn. If you want to visit Corfu in March, April or November, we have developed a special itinerary where you will walk certain sections of the Corfu Trail, being based in Corfu Town.

The flexibility of self-guided holidays means that there are no fixed dates and you can start your holiday on any date in the season – so please indicate desired starting date when booking.

Weather

What to Bring

Main luggage is limited to 25 kg. On walking days your main luggage is transported to the next accommodation. For your daily essentials, you should bring a comfortable rucksack. It is essential to bring good hiking shoes and waterproof jacket.

Below is a non-exclusive list of what you should bring to this trip. We will include more detailed info in your holiday information pack. If you need further advice, please contact us or a reputable outdoor retailer.

Supplements*

Where individual members of a group require a single room, a single room supplement is applicable

This holiday is available for solo travellers. As transfer and accommodation costs are not shared, a solo traveller supplement is payable

*To calculate the price of the tour for a specific date, including the cost of different options and supplements, please click BOOK NOW above, pick your date and number of people. On the next screen you can choose desired options and extras and see the total price of your holiday before you decide whether to submit a booking enquiry.

Excluded

Flights and connecting land transfers to first / from last accommodation from/to airports other than Corfu Airport

Lunches, dinners and snacks

Travel insurance

Personal expenses such as phone calls, extra transfers, tips, etc.

Any items not specifically mentioned in the program

Bus / taxi transfer on Day 7

Extensions

One extra night in Corfu town before or after the holiday, or add extra nights in accommodations along the trail

Trails, Transfers, Accommodation, local rep and the holiday overall was excellent. We haven't done anything like this before so knew what to expect slightly but it far exceeded my expectations and would definitely recommend it to others. [...] Most memorable part - to be honest loved it all - but think most memorable was 9.00am on a Monday morning walking barefoot on a sunny beach. Tips for other travellers - ensure you carry sufficient mosquito repellent/after bite ointment. Everything went to plan during the booking process and the only thing I found did not go to plan was on the walk/transfer from Coyevinas to Pelekas the notes in the book was highlighted that we started in Agi Deka - but we actually started the walk a page before the highlighted piece - but nothing that caused a major problem. Hopefully the holiday benefited local people as we spent money in most of the villages we went through were Taverners and Shops were present. [...] Smartphone Navigation App was very good - we used it on a few occasions just to confirm our current location was correct if we were unsure.

Sep 28, 2018

by Carole E on Corfu Trail Highlights

The trails were pretty good - some stretches without much of a view, but that did mean there was some (much-needed) shade. One day included a fairly long section along the beach, which was pretty hard going, but we started early to avoid the hottest part of the day, so it was fine. The accommodation was great - pretty basic but clean and comfortable. All the travel arrangements and transfers went very smoothly. The local representative was great - very helpful when one of our party couldn't walk one day (plantar fasciitis) and quick to respond to the couple of messages we sent.